At half past twelve, Damian returned with Shawn.Since it was so cold outside, Jenna was unwilling to head out for food. So, she ordered takeout from Golden Elegance and ate at the office with Shawn. While eating, she suddenly looked up and glanced at Shawn. “You sure went on a long business trip this time. Did you manage to close the deal?” Shawn responded faintly. On the way back, Damian had told him everything he said to Jenna. Shawn stated, “The government at Strukha is quite pesky, and I had to go back and forth with them for a long time. The branch there was very new as well. The staff needed more time to gel, so I had to stay longer than expected.” Jenna thanked him. “Thank you for your hard work.” Shawn shook his head. He had always been stricken with guilt when he thought about how he had kept his agenda a secret for so many years and wrongfully killed her parents. After lunch, Jenna took Shawn back to her office. She produced a document and handed
Jenna gave Carina a look. “You haven’t seen many handsome guys in your time, have you?” Carina replied, “I have, but it’s the first time I've seen someone with Director Xavier’s sort of looks. He’s so androgynous, like some kind of deity come to life.” Jenna suddenly felt a little queasy. She set aside the chopsticks and produced a sour plum from her bag to eat it. “Why are you eating sour plums? You need meat!” Carina gestured at Jenna’s bowl with her fork. “You are way too skinny. If you keep going on like that, even a gust of wind will sweep you away. Do you want me to order something else for you?” “My stomach has been acting up these days.” Jenna told her, “I’ll eat later. Just enjoy your meal.” Carina responded faintly. She only calmed down briefly before rambling again. “Weren’t you just celebrating President Forester’s birthday the other day? You two looked like you were getting along back then. What’s with the sudden divorce?” Jenna lowered her eyes shi
Jacob immediately answered, “Didn't Jen marry that Xavier guy? If Shawn is upset about that, you should be too.” When Quinn heard this, his frown tightened. Once he drew close to the sofa, he jabbed a kick at Jacob. Then, he sat down and signaled at the table after Jacob shifted away to make space for him. Jacob made a face before picking up another glass and filling it with brandy for him. When they were about to finish the brandy, Shawn turned to Quinn. “Mr. Forester, weren’t you full of plots and always one step ahead?” “How did you get dumped after I returned from a business trip?” “I’m nothing like you. We got divorced amicably.” Quinn took another sip of brandy. Then, he stated calmly, “She fell for Xavier, and I decided to let her be with him.” “My ass, she fell for Xavier!” Shawn expressed with a sullen look. “I grew up with her. Do you know I wouldn’t know if another guy was around her? I have never heard of this Xavier person before.” Jacob suddenly
Quinn was very smart and quickly caught on to Shawn’s meaning. “When I get back, I will instruct Sam to send you the information of the housemaids who used to serve the old madam.” After taking another sip of brandy, he asked, “What are you going to do about this?” “Imagine if your entire family was burned alive when you were six years old, traumatizing you so much that you would have the same excruciating nightmare every night.” Shawn asked, “How would you feel? “She killed my family and used me as a pawn for her schemes. The day I forgive her will never come. “A life in exchange for another life, so they say.” Upon hearing this, Quinn’s frown finally eased. He took the bottle of brandy and poured a glass for Shawn. “Go to Dresark and find out if Xavier was born there as well as how he met Jenna. I keep getting this feeling that he came here for a reason.” “No!” Shawn refused boldly. “If you were smart, you would make up a cover story of going to Dresark for a bus
“If it wasn't for him, there wouldn’t be so many people talking about you online.” Carina angrily set her glass against the table. “He never even came to check on you. What’s with that?” Just as Jenna was about to say something, several girls suddenly appeared in front of their booth. Since it was very dim inside the venue, one of the girls turned on the flashlight on her phone and shined it right in Jenna’s face. “Are you Jenna?” The girl with the flashlight was wearing a camisole top with a pair of hot pants. She regarded Jenna with a look full of disdain. “Ha! You look like you’re trying to be a clone of Sis Diana!” “That's right!” Another girl chimed in, “Sis Diana is way prettier than you!” Jenna noticed that the girls were relatively young. They also mentioned Diana in every sentence. They must be big fans of her. She knew how delusional some fans could be about their idols. Out of concern for the baby in her belly, she decided to ignore them and proceeded
Jenna shifted backward without a word until she bumped into an unoccupied booth. She grabbed a bottle of wine on the table and used her bag to obstruct it from view. She clenched the bottle tightly and looked at the man with the buzz cut. “Do you need something?” The man was chewing on a piece of chewing gum while bellowing angrily, “You messed with my girlfriend and her friends and expected to just walk away? You wish!” “It was your girlfriend and your friends who started it,” Jenna said calmly. The man scoffed. “You’re the one who’s run around, getting married three times. Was what my girlfriend said wrong? Where I come from, a woman like you would be flogged to death!” Jenna determined that the man had to be at least six feet tall, with large tattoos all over his muscular body. There was no way she could confront him head-on. The air circulation in the surrounding area was very poor. All kinds of smells mingled in the air. With every breath she drew, her stomach
The man was very muscular and large. However, he could not fight back anymore after Shawn punched him in the face, not once but twice. That was when the previous girl rushed to the scene. She shrieked in a frightened voice, “Hey, you! Why are you punching him? Let go of him…” Shawn immediately marched toward her and grabbed her before slapping her twice across the face. She felt like she could see stars after the two swift slaps. “Do you know why I slapped you?” Shawn asked with a murderous expression. The girl covered her swollen cheek with her palms. Through the scarce lighting, she finally recognized the man in front of her. When she retreated a step backward, she also recognized Quinn, who was standing menacingly. She felt her legs give under her and nearly collapsed on her knees. She was under the impression that Shawn had a tense and complicated relationship with Jenna. Why was he so protective of her now? Shawn seized the girl and brought her before Jenna
It was still trickling snow outside when Sam saw Quinn exiting the venue with Jenna in his arms. He immediately stepped out of the car and opened the rear door for Quinn. After getting in, Quinn handed Jenna a bottle of water. Jenna took two gulps and immediately felt significantly better. When she noticed Sam was about to drive, she pointed out, “My car is still here.” “You can come get it tomorrow morning.” Quinn told Sam, “Go to the hospital…” “No!” Jenna interrupted him. Quinn turned to shoot a look at her. Then, he remembered how she was not fond of the smell of a hospital. With that, he turned back to Sam. “See if there are any pharmacies in the area still open.” “Alright.” Sam drove away from the bar’s entrance. Worrying that Jenna would feel uncomfortable, Quinn lowered the window to allow some fresh air into the car. Soon, Sam found a pharmacy. He was about to get out of the car when Quinn instructed him to stay while he entered the pharmacy himself.